


The New Home Job

by Phantom



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-29
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 12:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/862042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom/pseuds/Phantom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe someday, they'd get to wherever they were going.</p><p>And when they did, maybe then she’d buy two plants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Home Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sevenofspade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenofspade/gifts).



When they left Portland, they took their time. It was a luxury they’d never had before; no one was chasing them this time and with the black book jobs up for grabs, some of the pressure was off their crew. Which was both a nice change and a necessary reprieve—no matter how good they were, they were a team of three used to being a team of five. It would take them some time to find their new balance. 

Their first task was pinpointing their destination.

They gathered at the bar early one evening, just the three of them. Eliot was the last to join them; he came up the stairs and took one look at Parker and Hardison beside her and their assorted snacks (a two liter of orange soda, a bowl of popcorn each, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and a near-empty box of marshmallow fruit loops she'd already picked the marshmallows out of) and stomped back to the kitchen.

Parker glanced at Hardison, who shrugged and took another swig of his soda. 

She shrugged in reply, and squeezed some more chocolate onto her popcorn.

Eliot returned half a _Star Trek: Voyager_ episode later with a plate of chicken-stuffed mushrooms in one hand, a plate of cheese and tomato crostini in the other, and a salad bowl tucked under his arm. He all but thrust the food at them and growled, "Eat."

Parker and Hardison exchanged another look, and smiled in the same moment.

"Best do what the man says," Hardison said, reaching for a mushroom. With his free hand, he reached for the projector remote, and pulled a map of the country up onto the screen. Some of the choices already under consideration were marked with a star: San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Richmond, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, Houston, and Baltimore.

With her thief's fingers, Parker plucked the little tomatoes out of her salad to eat first as she studied the map.

Hardison voted immediately for San Diego because “ComicCon, baby!” which made Eliot shake his head and grumble under his breath. Hardison turned to Parker next. “They have a zoo,” he entreated her. “I’ll take you there, girl, you know you like the panda cam.”

That was true; she _was_ fond of the panda cam.

And the zoo security was a joke.

And the last time she’d stolen a panda, Nate hadn’t let her keep it.

Parker grinned to herself. San Diego was a definite maybe.

Eliot voted for anywhere with “no goddamn elves or goddamn Klingons or goddamn Jedi” and offered no further opinion, which caused Hardison to pump his hands up in the air triumphantly and crow, “I knew the pub would grow on you. You wanna stay.”

Eliot crossed his arms with a grunt.

And Parker laughed as Hardison did his victory dance because he looked funny with his arms flailing all about, but the thing was... Things were different now.

She’d known for awhile. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had noticed all the pieces out of place, but she’d spared it no conscious thought until they left D.C. together, the three of them, with Eliot full of bullet holes after the flu scare. She’d slipped into the window seat (the benefits of being small and fast) while Hardison and Eliot argued over who took the aisle. (“I ain’t playing no damn rock-paper-scissors.” “You just mad you lost the last time.” “Sit _down_ , Hardison.”) 

She’d kept the diamond (of course she had; she was Parker). She'd fished it out then and rubbed it between her fingers, turning it over in tune with her thoughts while they argued through takeoff and beyond. Before, if she'd watched them out of the corner of her eye, or looked at them from a distance, it had been easy to miss. But Sophie had taught her more than either of them had expected, and Parker had learned to see the act. It was in the way they sat shoulder to shoulder comfortably with a minimal amount of fidgeting, and in the way Eliot no longer spoke wistfully of plan M.

There had been other things, too, like the tiredness that had lined Nate’s face and the light in Sophie’s eyes when she'd talked about her theater. Parker hadn’t been surprised to see Nate go legit. Sophie had been the surprise—she’d been in the game longer, for one. She was Sophie Devereaux, for another. But that was something else Parker had learned. You could only play the game for so long before it wore you down.

Their departure had made sense from a practical standpoint, too. Nate and Sophie were the face of their cons. It was what they did, and they did it well. Sooner or later, though, being out in the open caught up with you. It made you vulnerable. It was Parker's reason for having worked alone for so long. Vulnerability was a risk. People were risks. She got in, she got out. It was what _she_ did.

Following the thought to it’s natural conclusion, she realized that there would be a time when she, too, would have to get out. 

Once, she would have said it was impossible. 

But things were different now.

Now she sat close to Hardison and rested her feet on the rungs of his stool because the space was too big for only three people. Now Hardison could elbow Eliot and only be shoved away _gently_ , and only half the time. 

“Chicago,” she said, pointing at the map. “Let’s go to Chicago.”

“Home of Windycon and some damn fine pizza,” Hardison said in approval. “They even got baseball for Eliot.”

Eliot sighed, but helped himself to some more crostini and voiced no protest. 

“Do they have pandas?”

“Er—you know what, I’m sure they got some somewhere,” Hardison said. “So we cool? If we find you a panda and Eliot gets season tickets to the Cubs and some bad guys to punch?”

Parker shrugged, and didn't mention that the main attraction of Chicago was that it was labeled in an eye-catching shade of red on the map. Things like that tended to frustrate Hardison, but there'd be people that needed helping (and maybe things that needed stealing) no matter where they went.

“It could be a nice change,” Eliot admitted grudgingly.

“See, that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Thank you for your good attitude.”

“You could buy another brewery,” Parker said to Hardison. “For Eliot.”

“I don’t need—“ Eliot stopped mid-protest, crossing and re-crossing his arms. “Hardison doesn’t make the beer, or plan the menus. That’s my job.”

“Do you think you could whip up some specialty pizzas, though?” Hardison said. “‘cause, you know, beer and pizza—“

“Dammit, Hardison.” 

Parker would miss Nate and Sophie. They’d become her family, half against her will and mostly without her realizing it. Their absence left a hole in the team. But she didn’t _need_ them in quite the same way that she needed Hardison and Eliot. That was something else she'd known for awhile. When Hardison had been buried, when he’d been kidnapped by Travis Zilgram, when Eliot had been shot—those times had scared her. _Really_ scared her, because she needed them and even after five years she wasn't used to needing people. She'd never even needed Archie, not really, and he was family too.

And they needed her. So whatever happened in Chicago, and wherever came after whether it was Baltimore or San Diego or Philadelphia, they would go together. And whoever they became, they would become together.

Parker didn’t miss places. She’d had more homes than she could remember, some more temporary than others, but she knew better than to get attached to any one place. And yet... she’d liked Los Angeles enough to buy a plant. They’d been in Boston longer than she'd ever lived anywhere since childhood, and she’d gotten used to the rhythm of life here in Portland too.

It was a little harder to leave each time. There was a little more of each place that she took with her, a little bit more of each of them—she’d become a little bit Nate, a little bit Sophie, a little bit Hardison and Eliot, even a little bit of Tara. And she’d bought a more interesting plant. 

But someday, all that would be over with. Not that she would ever go fully legit, not her. She was Parker, and even with all the things that were different now she wasn't one to settle down somewhere. She wasn’t sure if Eliot or Hardison had it in them, either. Hardison was like her. He had too much fun and was too good at what he did to ever be a law-abiding citizen. Eliot was still running from himself sometimes. 

But... maybe someday, they'd get to wherever they were going. 

And when they did, maybe then she’d buy two plants.


End file.
